Things We Lost That We Love
by LuckyxLabradoodlexLoverx7
Summary: AU: Sometimes you lose the most important things in life. Other times you gain things. THREE-SHOT. Takes place in 2009.
1. Pet Talk and Surprises

Disclaimer – I own nothing of RENT, except the original characters (aka – cats, dogs, rabbits and people). The rest belongs to Jonathon Larson. 'Nuff said.

_**Italics **_are thoughts, lyrics and flashbacks

A/N: I have no idea how this story came to me – it just did.

Summary: AU: Sometimes you lose the most important things in life. Other times you gain things. THREE-SHOT. Takes place in 2009.

Genre: Family/General

Rating: T

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CHAPTER ONE  
(chapter title – Pet Talk and Surprises)

Angel and Collins giggled silently to each other as they entered the loft. Roger, Mimi and their cat, Squeak, were fast asleep in Roger's room, while Lacey – the Doberman/Standard Poodle – slept on the worn-out couch in the living area.

"Hello?" Angel called softly into the loft. Lacey's ears pricked up and she leapt off the couch, putting her front paws on Angel's chest and covered her face with kisses, her tail wagging wildly.

"Some guard dog you are." Angel joked, shoving Lacey off of her as Collins put two-month-old Marta in the playpen near the couch.

"Angel? Collins? What are you doing here?" Roger inquired, entering the room. He put his four-month-old son, Eric, in the playpen with Marta.

"We just came to show off our new puppy." Angel said, getting the carrier from near the door. Roger put Lacey in a different room while Angel opened the carrier door.

A brown, timid, scrappy-looking puppy exited the crate, looking scared to death.

"Aww – what a cutie." Mimi chimed in, walking over to where the puppy was.

"Meems – no sudden movements. We're still trying to get used to Alley." Collins warned as Mimi sat on the couch, watching the puppy.

"Alley?" Roger asked, confused.

"We found her in an alleyway and we couldn't leave her." Angel explained. Both she and Collins were dog people, while Maureen and Joanne preferred cats – they had four – Jackson (in memory of Michael Jackson), Tanya, Charlie and Mittens. Roger and Mimi loved both cats and dogs. Mark was married to a girl who had three Old English Sheepdogs – Rex, Marley and Oliver. Luckily, the house where Mark and Kate lived had a lot of space, so the three boys could run and play together.

"What happened to Marvin?" Roger inquired, sitting down on the floor and watched Alley attack him playfully.

"We decided to put him to sleep – he was getting old and a little cranky." Angel answered, smiling as Squeak came over to investigate the goings-on. When Alley made her way over to the orange tabby, Squeak hissed and ran in the opposite direction, Alley chasing her, bounding and barking the entire time. It was only a matter of minutes when Alley ran back over to Angel, timid as a mouse.

"Aww you poor baby." Angel told the pup, picking her up and kissed her on the nose. Alley licked Angel and squirmed in her arms. Angel laughed and warned Alley to be careful in Spanish.

"So, what kinds of pets did you guys have growing up?" Collins asked as the Bohos sat on the couch. Maureen and Joanne had arrived at that time, followed by Mark and an extremely pregnant Kate.

"I had two guinea pigs – Pebbles and Locket. Locket looked like she was wearing a locket around her neck and that's where the name came from." Maureen spoke up.

"I had three dogs – Hobo, Eskimo and Snuggle. I grew up with them and when they passed away, it broke my heart." Joanne said, feeling tears in her eyes.

"I had a boa constrictor." Roger announced.

"What did you name it?" Mimi asked.

"Diamond because it looked like it had diamonds on its back." Roger answered. "I also had two dogs – Rusty and Lucy. Lucy was hit by a car when I was in seventh grade and Rusty passed away in the backyard when I was a junior in high school."

"My parents wouldn't let me have a pet with feathers or fur, so I was given an aquarium full of exotic fish for my eleventh birthday." Mark told the group, squeezing Kate's hand.

"Growing up, I lived on a farm and we had horses, goats, sheep and pigs. We also had a Golden Retriever named Sunlight and two Australian Shepards named Lucy and Goosy." Kate said, brushing her hair over her shoulder. Mark kissed her cheek and put a hand on her belly – he could feel the babies moving around beneath his hand.

"I had two gerbils – Sprite and Pepsi, plus a hamster named Root Beer." Mimi said, making the others laugh at her pet's names. "I was seven when I got them."

"Growing up, I lived in an apartment, so we weren't allowed to have cats or dogs. Instead, I had four frogs, a horned toad, a lizard and a snake." Collins told the group – remembering his beloved reptiles.

"I had a beautiful Macaw growing up – I named him Rainbow because he had the colors of the rainbow in his feathers." Angel recalled, frowning.

"Angel? What's wrong?" Maureen asked.

"Rainbow accidently hung himself when I was a freshman in high school. He was fifty-years-old." Angel told the others. They all hugged her, telling her how sorry they were about her precious bird.

"I have an idea." Kate said after a while. All eyes turned to her. "Why don't we make a scrapbook of our pets – old and new?"

"That's not a bad idea." Roger spoke up.

"So, Kate, when are you due?" Maureen inquired as she, Kate, Joanne and Mimi went to get supplies for scrap booking.

"Any time now – the doctor said it could be at the end of the week, or sooner. I have a C-Section scheduled for Friday, just in case things go wrong or the babies are late." Kate answered.

"Babies? Are you expecting twins?" Joanne asked.

"No – triplets. According to the doctor, we're having three girls." Kate told her.

They arrived back at the loft and instantly got started on the scrapbook. Their thoughts were on their pets that they had growing up as kids. Each of the Bohos decorated a page that was of their pets (or pet) growing up.

Maureen's page was plastered with stickers of guinea pigs. In the right hand corner, she wrote in black marker 'Locket and Pebbles – the best guinea pigs ever.'

Joanne's page had three dogs – a medium-sized brown dog, a small white dog and a Beagle – on it. Underneath the pictures, she wrote 'Hobo' 'Eskimo' and 'Snuggle.'

Roger was attempting to draw a boa constrictor, but it ended up looking like the letter 'S.' He just shrugged his shoulders and continued working on the page.

"Mark – either I just wet myself or the babies are coming." Kate said, putting her hands on her belly. Mark got up from the table and ran over to Kate.

"How far apart are your contractions?" Mark asked, his tone concerned.

"About five minutes apart." Kate answered, wincing as a contraction seared through her.

"Guys, we need to get Kate to the hospital – the babies are on their way." Mark told his friends. They all rushed to help – Angel and Mimi went to hail a taxi while Collins drove to the couple's house and got Kate's overnight bag. Roger busied himself by getting the babies ready to go. Joanne and Maureen took the dogs for a walk and put them in their crates.

"The cab's here." Mimi announced as Collins entered with the overnight bag.

"Collins and Roger, I'll need your help getting Kate down the stairs." Mark told his friends. The guys nodded and carefully got Kate down the stairs.

What seemed like a year later, they arrived at the hospital. Roger went to get Mark and Kate checked in while Angel went to get Kate a wheelchair.

"You're doing great." Mark told his wife, kissing her cheek.

"IT HURTS!" Kate screamed, clutching to Mark's hand for dear life.

Mark smiled and entered the waiting room to see his friends anxiously waiting.

"What's going on? Is she okay? How are the babies?" they all asked at once.

"Everything's fine – the babies are beautiful. We have three beautiful little girls. You guys can come back and see them." Mark told his friends. The girls squealed and the boys smiled and told Mark 'congratulations.'

Upon entering Kate's room, the Bohos saw three babies wrapped in three different blankets – one was in pink, one was in yellow and one was in a light green.

"Everyone, this is Savannah Grace, Amber Elizabeth and Isabella Faith." Mark introduced the babies, placing Savannah in Joanne's arms, Amber in Roger's arms and Isabella in Collins' arms. Maureen, Mimi and Angel looked over their partner's arms at the beautiful babies.

"I thought that you were gonna name one Sara." Maureen whispered, a little confused.

"We were, but we decided against it, fearing it would bring back memories of the first one." Mark answered, feeling tears in his eyes. Sara was the name of the year-old baby they lost due to a rare blood disease.

"They are so adorable. How's Kate doing?" Angel inquired, changing subjects.

"She's exhausted, but she fought like a trooper." Mark answered, motioning for the people holding the babies to switch. Maureen squealed when Savannah was placed in her arms, causing the baby to wake up and start crying.

"Aww – sweetie, I'm sorry." Maureen soothed, rubbing Savannah's back, but that only made her cry louder.

"Maureen, what did you do?" Roger asked, handing Amber to Mimi.

"I-I didn't do anything!" Maureen answered. Joanne carefully took Savannah from Maureen and calmed the baby down before handing her back to Maureen.

"Wait – where are your babies?" Mark asked.

"I called a sitter." Roger answered, looking over Mimi's shoulder. Little Amber was fast asleep.

After an hour visiting, the others decided to head home and see how things were going.

Roger paid the sitter and went to check on the kids – they were fast asleep, hand-in-hand.

"I don't know how Mark and Kate are going to handle three dogs AND three babies." Maureen said, filing her nails.

"They'll probably going to have to make some changes." Roger said, picking up his guitar and played 'Musetta's Waltz'. Angel, Marta and Collins had left already.

"Rog, I need to go to work. Are you okay with the evening routine?" Mimi asked, putting in her star earrings.

"Yes, honey, I'm okay with it." Roger reassured Mimi, kissing her on the cheek as she headed out the door.

Joanne, Maureen and Roger sat on the beat-up couch, talking about random things when the phone rang.

"SPEAK!" Roger and Mimi's voices came over the answering machine.

"Roger, Mimi – it's Benny. I know we haven't spoken in a while, that's because we have two new additions to the family – Labradoodle puppies – Maxine and Lucky. We were also wondering how you two were doing-" the machine cut him off.

"That was nice of that prick to call." Maureen said as she cleaned up the Bohos mess and put on a Little Einstein's tape for Eric to watch.

"Honey, watch your language around the baby." Joanne warned, smiling at Eric. She couldn't believe how much the little boy looked like his dad, only he had his mom's brown eyes and light skin. He was incredibly handsome and was sure to win the heart of the girls when he got older.

At the hospital, Mark was stroking Kate's hand when there was a knock on the door. He smiled as his parents and Kate's parents entered the room.

"Hey everyone." Mark whispered, hugging everyone before leading them over to where the babies were.

"What are their names?" Kate's mother – Elaina – asked.

"Savannah Grace, Amber Elizabeth and Isabella Faith." Mark answered, placing Savannah in his father's arms, Amber in his mother's arms and Isabella in Kate's father's arms. Kate's mother had recently fell and dislocated her shoulder, so she could only look from a distance.

"Such beautiful granddaughters." Kate's father – Stavros – spoke up, his voice heavy with a thick Greek accent.

"I couldn't agree more." Mark's mother chimed in, gently singing to Amber.

"How did you come up with the names?" Mark's father inquired.

"They were names that both Kate and I liked." Mark answered.

"Have your little friends been in to see them?" Mark's mother asked.

"Yes, they have – they were the first ones to see them." Mark told her.

"Do you think that if Sara was alive, she would've liked them?" Mrs. Cohen asked. Mark felt his eyes well up with tears – he missed Sara.

"I think so." Mark responded, blinking the tears out of his eyes.

"Oh, honey – I'm sorry – I didn't mean to bring her up." Mrs. Cohen apologized. Mark just shook his head and exited the hospital room. Outside the hospital, he hailed a taxi and gave the driver directions to the cemetery where Sara was buried.

_Flashback:_

"_Honey, I'm home." Mark announced, entering the house when he was knocked over by the three Old English Sheepdogs that he and Kate owned._

"_In here." Kate called from the kitchen._

"_Boys – get off of me!" Mark told the dogs, standing up and went to the kitchen. He saw Kate standing in front of the stove, cooking dinner._

"_Babe, are you sure that's a good idea? We can order pizza, or Chinese or something." Mark told his wife. She was nine months pregnant and was expecting any day._

"_Honey, I'm fine." Kate reassured her husband, stirring the sauce._

"_That smells good – what are you making?" Mark asked._

"_Spaghetti and meat-" Kate started to answer when she felt some pain in her lower back. "Honey, my back hurts."_

"_Here – you go lay down on the couch and I'll finish up." Mark assured her, kissing the top of her head and helped her over to the couch._

_A few minutes later, Kate complained about her still aching back. Mark turned off the stove and went to check on Kate. The couch was wet and Kate was sweating profusely._

"_Hun, we need to get you to the hospital – now!" Mark told his wife, going to the room they shared and got Kate's overnight bag. He then called a neighbor to watch the dogs while he drove Kate to the hospital._

"_She's definitely in labor." A nurse told them, directing them to the delivery room._

"_How dilated is she?" Mark asked._

"_About five centimeters." The nurse answered, helping Kate change into a gown while Mark changed into scrubs._

"_OWWW! THIS HURTS!" Kate yelled as the doctor told her to keep pushing. Mark squeezed his wife's hand and whispered how much he loved her in her ear._

"_Okay, the baby's almost here – what I'm going to do is count backwards from ten. What I need you to do is push hard when I get to one, okay?" the nurse told Kate. Kate nodded and squeezed Mark's hand._

"…_Six, five, four, three, two, one and push!" the nurse told Kate. Kate sucked in a lot of air and let it out as she continued pushing. Mark looked between his wife's legs and saw a heedful of hair making its way out._

"_I can see the head." Mark whispered in Kate's ear._

_Forty-five minutes later, screaming filled Mark and Kate's ears._

"_Congratulations you two – you have a healthy, perfect little girl." The doctor told the happy couple, holding the baby so that they could see her. She was covered in blood, pink and screaming. Both Mark and Kate burst into tears as the baby was cleaned up, weighed and measured._

"_What's her name?" the doctor asked._

"_Sara Louise Cohen." Kate spoke up, her voice hoarse. Mark kissed the top of Kate's head and held her in his arms._

_Later that day, Mark was watching his daughter in the nursery when he felt someone walk up next to him. Turning his head, he saw Roger and Mimi._

"_Hey guys." Mark whispered._

"_Hi Mark – which one's yours?" Roger whispered back._

"_Third one in the first row." Mark answered, indicating to his daughter._

"_Oh she's beautiful – congratulations." Mimi spoke up, hugging Mark tightly._

"_Thanks, Meems." Mark thanked her._

"_What's her name?" Roger asked._

"_Sara Louise Cohen." Mark responded._

"_What a beautiful name." Mimi told Mark, kissing him on the cheek._

"_How's Kate doing?" Roger inquired._

"_She's sleeping right now. Would you guys like to go in and hold Sara?" Mark asked. The two of them nodded and the three of them entered the nursery._

"_Here she is." Mark said, handing the others hand sanitizer._

"_What's this?" Roger asked, taking some hand sanitizer._

"_Hand sanitizer. I don't want my baby getting sick." Mark answered. Roger nodded and put some hand sanitizer on before giving some to Mimi. While his friends did that, Mark went to see his little girl._

"_Hi my angel." Mark greeted her, carefully picking her up. Sara continued to sleep in his arms. Mark kissed her forehead and brought her over to his friends. He instructed Mimi how to hold her (Mimi was the eldest of four kids, so she knew what to do, whereas Roger was an only child, so he didn't have any experience with kids). He then placed little Sara in Mimi's arms._

_After an hour, Roger and Mimi went home, so Mark decided to put Sara back in her basinet before going back and checking on Kate._

"_I love you, sweetie, and I always will." Mark whispered in Sara's ear before exiting the nursery._

_Two days later, Kate and Mark were allowed to bring Sara home. Kate put the boys in their crates while Mark put Sara in her crib so that she could sleep._

"_She's the best baby ever." Mark noted, pouring Kate some lemonade. Kate nodded in agreement as she drank her lemonade._

_Everything seemed to be going well with Sara until she turned a year old. She was always in bed with a high fever and she cried a lot. Kate called the doctor to see if he could make a house call while Mark stayed with his chickadee (his nickname for Sara)._

"_I'm afraid she has a rare blood disease and there's nothing I can do. I'm sorry." The doctor apologized, taking the stethoscope out of his ears and put it in his medical bag._

"_Blood disease? Like leukemia?" Kate asked._

"_No, this is much severe than leukemia." The doctor told Kate._

_Mark and Kate ended up crying themselves to sleep that night, praying their daughter would be okay in the morning._

_Two months later, Sara passed away from the disease._

"Right here is great." Mark told the cabbie. The cabbie nodded and told Mark how much the fee was. Mark handed the cabbie two twenties and got out of the cab.

As Mark walked the cemetery, he thought about his daughter. She would've been six-years-old if she was alive. Mark felt the tears come to his eyes as he approached Sara's grave. It had fresh daisies in the corner and a wreath of roses in front of the tombstone.

SARA LOUISE COHEN  
April 3rd, 2002 - March 13th, 2003  
Our Little Girl

Mark knelt down in front of the tombstone and began sobbing. It wasn't fair that Sara had been taken away from him and Kate. Sara now would miss everything – first day of kindergarten, going to middle school, high school, getting her driver's license, dating, prom, graduation from high school, college, first dates, break-ups, make-ups, voting and everything in-between.

Between his sobs, Mark began singing a Tim McGraw song that he loved – it was called My Little Girl and it suited Sara completely.

"Mark?" he heard Joanne's voice call to him.

"Joanne? What are you doing here?" Mark asked, wiping the tears out of his eyes.

"Looking for you – everyone's worried." Joanne told him, helping him stand up.

"I can't leave her." Mark said, indicating to Sara's grave.

"Mark, you'll see her again." Joanne soothed him as they climbed into the taxi.

"Where's Maureen?" Mark questioned.

"At the hospital with your and Kate's parents." Joanne answered, telling the cabbie where she wanted to go. The cabbie nodded his head once and drove to the hospital.

"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" Mark asked, looking out his window.

"I don't know." Joanne answered, putting a comforting hand on Mark's shoulder.

"Where are Mimi, Roger, Collins and Angel?" Mark inquired as he and Joanne entered the hospital and walked briskly to Kate's room.

"Both Marta and Eric aren't feeling well, so the four adults are taking care of the babies." Joanne answered, entering Kate's room. Mark took his time entering the room – he could feel the seven pairs of eyes staring at him.

"Where the hell where you?" Kate asked, her tone angry.

"I went to the graveyard to visit Sara – she's our daughter too, you know." Mark answered, staring at the floor.

"You could've told us that BEFORE you stormed out of here." Kate told him. Joanne and Maureen ushered the grandparents out of the room so that Kate and Mark could talk. The girls had been taken back to the nursery.

"I know, but I was just mad at my mom – she kept bringing Sara up. It's been six years since we lost her." Mark said, feeling the sting of tears.

"Mark, we all miss her, but you've got to move on. We have three new little girls that need our love and attention now." Kate told him, her voice gentle.

The couple talked like that for a few more minutes before Kate felt herself grow tired. Mark kissed the top of her head before exiting the room.

Mark decided to walk around the hospital, after talking with a doctor about it. The doctor gave Mark a map of the hospital and marked off the areas that Mark was not allowed to visit – the burn unit and the cancer unit. Other than that, he could go anywhere.

An hour later, Mark was done walking around the hospital and decided to sit in the waiting room. There were two other people in the waiting room – a young man in a wheelchair and a young woman sitting beside him. The young woman had long jet-black hair, which was pulled into a braid. She was wearing a plain black shirt and a black pair of jeans.

The young man sitting in the wheelchair was dressed exactly like the woman sitting beside him.

"Are you two twins?" Mark asked.

"No – we're boyfriend and girlfriend." The girl answered.

"Sorry – I was just wondering." Mark apologized.

"It's okay." The young man in the wheelchair spoke up.

"So, what are you here for?" the young woman inquired.

"My wife had triplet girls, but they're all sleeping, so I decided to walk around the hospital. What about you two?"

"Blood work." The young man answered. That's when Mark noticed the young woman and the young man's tattoos. They had them everywhere Mark's eyes could see.

"How many tattoos do you guys have?" Mark asked.

"I have twenty and he has close to thirty." The girl spoke up.

"What do you two do for a living?" Mark asked.

"We work in a tattoo parlor downtown." The young man answered.

"Do you two have names?" Mark inquired, not meaning to sound rude.

"I'm Tamora and this is Ryan. What about you?" the girl – Tamora – asked.

"I'm Mark Cohen." Mark introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you, Mark." Ryan said, smiling.

"You, too. I hope the blood work goes well. You know, I lost my first daughter to a blood disease, so I hope you don't have what she did." Mark said, feeling himself ramble.

"Thanks and I'm really sorry about your daughter." Tamara told him as her name was called. She got up and went to the examining room, Ryan rolling right behind her.

Mark walked back to Kate's room when he heard an overhead announcement.

"ATTENTION – WOULD MARK COHEN COME TO ROOM 1056 – IMMEDATELY." A male voice rang over the PA system. Mark sprinted for Kate's room, praying that everything was all right and that he wasn't too late.

Arriving at Kate's room, Mark took a minute to catch his breath and wipe the sweat off his face.

"What's going on?" Mark asked when he walked into the room.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK!" everyone whispered so that they wouldn't wake up the sleeping babies.

"It's not my birthday today – is it?" Mark asked, feeling very confused.

"I believe it is, sweetie." Mrs. Cohen spoke up, placing a party hat on Mark's head.

After everyone sang Happy Birthday, ate cake and Mark opened his presents, Collins dimmed the lights and Roger turned on the projector.

Mark cried when his second film – Things We Lost That We Love – played on the far wall they were using for a screen. Everyone awed as Roger and Mimi exchanged wedding vows. The next reel showed Mark and Kate exchanging their wedding vows.

The film ended with a family portrait – Kate and Mark looking down at a newborn Sara. Mark blinked tears out of his eyes as the image faded to black and the reel ended.

"But this isn't – how did you – what the – huh?" Mark was utterly speechless. Everyone laughed at Mark's speechlessness.

"It's a surprise." Roger whispered in Mark's ear, slapping him hard on the back. Mark let out a little cough and went back to his friends.


	2. I Didn't Know I'd Love You So Much

A/N: The song I use in the flashback between Rog & Meems is one of my favorite songs from Repo! The Genetic Opera - it's called I Didn't Know I'd Love You So Much.

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CHAPTER TWO  
(chapter title - I Didn't Know I'd Love You So Much)

The next day, Kate and Mark had gotten the okay to take the girls home. As Mark signed the release papers, Roger and Mrs. Cohen helped Kate feed and change the girls.

"We ready?" Mark asked, kissing his mother on the cheek. Kate and Roger nodded and together, the three of them carried the girls outside for the first time and put the girls in their car seats.

"Hi girls." Roger greeted them as he sat in the seat behind Mark so that he could look at the girls. They were all sleeping soundly, which made the three adults happy.

Upon arriving at the house, Roger jumped out of the van and went to take care of the dogs while Joanne came out to help carry the girls inside and to the nursery.

"Which one do I have?" Joanne whispered, looking down at the sleeping baby in her arms.

"Savannah." Kate whispered back, placing Amber in her crib as Mark placed Isabella in her crib. Joanne kissed Savannah on the forehead before placing her in the crib. The three adults exited the room and went to join Roger, Angel and Maureen in the other room.

"Where are Mimi and Collins?" Joanne inquired, following Mark to the large kitchen.

"They're at home with Eric and Marta." Mark answered, opening a bottle of Champaign.

"Eric and Marta are still sick? Poor babies." Maureen said from the couch.

"I know. I feel so bad for them." Kate spoke up, smiling as Mark handed her a glass of Champaign and sat down next to her.

"Mark, it looks like you're outnumbered." Joanne teased. Mark rolled his eyes and went to get the telephone.

"Hello?...Hey Jerry!....I'm fine…The babies are sleeping….Yeah, we brought them home today….How's Ben doing?....That's good….Listen, I don't mean to sound rude, but I have company over….Tonight? I don't think it's gonna work, but tomorrow might….Seven sounds great….Okay, I guess Kate and I will see you and Ben for dinner tomorrow at seven….I'll tell her that….Okay, bye Jerry." Mark smiled and walked back over to his friends, bringing the phone with him.

"Let me guess – that was Jerry?" Kate asked as Mark sat down next to her again.

"Yeah, it was. She told me to tell you she says hi and that she and Ben want to take us out to dinner at seven tomorrow." Mark told her, kissing Kate's cheek.

"Who's Jerry?" Maureen asked, sort of confused.

"Jerry's a good friend of mine. I actually work with her husband, Ben." Mark answered.

"That still doesn't explain how you know Ben and Jerry." Roger said.

"I've been friends with Jerry since middle school. I met her husband, Ben, the first day we worked together at the photography shop. He and I hit it off right away." Mark explained as best as he could.

"How did you know that Ben was married to Jerry?" Joanne asked.

"I was at their wedding and that's how I met Kate." Mark answered, a little irritated.

"Does someone need a nap?" Kate teased. Mark rolled his eyes and got off the couch. He went to the guest room where he and Kate kept the dogs if they had company and let the boys outside so that they could play.

"Mark, did you put on their collars?" Kate asked as Mark came back to the couch and sat back down.

"Honey, they have their collars on all the time – even their Invisible Fence ones." Mark answered, kissing Kate on the neck.

"We better get going – it was nice to see you guys." Joanne told the couple as she got Maureen and Roger out of the house.

Mark and Kate made their way to their bedroom and closed the door behind them. They then got on the bed and kissed each other. Mark ran his hands down Kate's slim body and took off her underwear before placing a hand between her legs. His lips were kissing every inch of her they could find.

Kate put her hands under Mark's shirt and carefully took it off of him, throwing it to the floor. Her hands latched behind Mark's neck and kissed him all over.

Mark unbuttoned Kate's dress and tossed it to the floor. He then unfastened her bra and discarded that, too. He kissed each of her swollen breasts and carefully suckled on each nipple. One hand was between her legs, the other was stroking her long back hair.

Kate's hands shook as she unzipped Mark's jeans and removed them, along with his boxers. She held his shaft in her hands, admiring it as if it were her first time.

The next two hours of lovemaking flew by and now the couple was fast asleep in each other's arms. Mark listened to Kate's heart as it beat below her breast. He gently squeezed her breast and went back to sleep.

On the baby monitor, the babies were starting to wake up and stir, but Mark and Kate were fast asleep.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, startling both Mark and Kate. They threw on some clothes and went to answer the door. Standing before them was their neighbor, Felix, and one of the dogs. The other two were nowhere to be seen.

"Felix? Is everything all right?" Kate answered, opening the door.

"No, everything's not all right – I called the pound to let them know your dogs were running around wildly. This was the only one I could catch." Felix said, slapping the dog – hard – on the back end to make it go inside. The dog quickly ran into the guest room and hid on the other side of the bed.

"Why did you call the pound? Our dogs aren't doing anything wrong." Mark said, looking over his shoulder. Kate had gone into the nursery and brought out a fussing baby.

"Which one is it?" Mark asked his wife.

"Amber." Kate answered.

"I called the pound because something had to be done. They said that if you don't come pick them up in twenty-four hours, they'll put them down." Felix told the couple, storming off the porch and went back to his house, muttering angrily under his breath.

"I'll call Maureen and Joanne to see if they can watch the girls while you and I go get Rex and Marley." Kate told her husband, handing Amber to Mark while she called Maureen and Joanne. While Kate called Maureen and Joanne, Mark changed and fed Amber.

Ten minutes later, Maureen and Joanne arrived. Both Kate and Mark told them what to do and what not to do.

"Oh, Oliver is in the other room, so don't bother him." Kate told the girls, kissing Amber, Isabella and Savannah on the forehead.

"Is he okay?" Maureen inquired. Kate quickly explained what happened while Mark wrote down phone numbers for the girls, including the number to the loft and various cell and house phones. He also wrote down his and Kate's cell phones.

"Okay, we'll be back soon." Kate told the girls as they headed out the door. Mark blew kisses at the babies and followed Kate out the door.

It was a long wait at the pound, but finally someone helped them. She led Mark and Kate to the back room and stopped in front of a large kennel.

"Are these your dogs?" she asked in a bored tone. Kate looked at the collars – one was red and the other was blue. Oliver wore an orange collar.

"Yes, these are our dogs." Mark answered, getting Rex and Marley's leashes while Kate paid the fee.

Arriving home, Kate saw Roger's car parked in the driveway. Mark shut off the engine and opened the car door. Marley and Rex followed their masters, knowing they were in trouble.

"Hello?" Mark called into the house, ushering Marley and Rex into the house. Both boys went to the guest room.

"We're in here." Roger called from the bathroom. Kate and Mark followed the sound of Roger's voice.

"What in the world is going on?" Kate inquired. All three girls were in the tub, crying loudly. Maureen and Joanne were doing their best to calm them down. Roger was sitting on the toilet, watching the girls.

"Why are you washing the babies in the bathtub and why are you giving them a bath in the first place?" Kate and Mark asked at the same time.

"We're all the youngest – or only child – in our family and we were never taught how to change a diaper." Maureen answered. Kate let the water out of the tub while Joanne, Mark and Kate got baby towels and dried the babies off. They then carried the girls into the nursery while Maureen and Roger cleaned up the bathroom.

"Joanne, why did they do it?" Mark asked, getting a clean diaper for Isabella and put it on her. He then reached into the drawer next to the changing table and got out a pair of pajamas with princesses on them.

"I don't know, Mark." Joanne answered, changing Savannah. Kate already had Amber changed and took her into the other room so that Kate could breast-feed her.

"Joanne, you could've talked them out of it. Why didn't you?" Mark asked.

"I tried, but they didn't listen to me." Joanne answered.

"THE BABIES COULD HAVE DIED!" Mark yelled, startling both babies. Mark and Joanne calmed the babies down as Maureen and Roger entered the room.

"Mark, I'm sorry." Joanne apologized.

"I don't want to hear it – you three are banned from the house until I get an explanation about what happened here! Now, get out!" Mark ordered. Joanne put Savannah back in her crib before exiting the house.

"I don't understand why they would do that." Kate said, her voice shaking with anger. She and Mark were in the master bedroom with the girls. Savannah was taking her turn being breast-fed while her sisters slept.

"Me, either, especially Joanne – she's a lot smarter than that." Mark told her, his voice also shaking with anger.

Once the babies were done nursing, Mark and Kate fed them a bottle while they watched Wheel of Fortune. Isabella was the first one done with her bottle, followed by Amber. Savannah was taking her sweet time on her bottle.

"I'll put Amber and Isabella to bed." Mark told Kate, carefully taking Isabella and Amber from her. Kate nodded and held Savannah while Mark put the others to bed.

"…_Please don't take my sunshine away_." Mark sang, putting Amber and Isabella in their cribs, which were right next to each other. He then kissed both girls goodnight and exited the room, closing the door behind him.

He then went to the kitchen and was about to order a pizza when the phone rang, startling Savannah, who started crying. Kate took her into another room to calm her down while Mark answered the phone, dreading about who would be on the other line.

"Hello?"

"MARK COHEN! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, BANNING ROGER FROM THE HOUSE? HE'S YOUR BEST FRIEND!" Mimi yelled on the other line.

"He, Joanne and Maureen were bathing MY DAY-OLD DAUGHTERS IN THE BATHROOM TUB! THE BABIES COULD HAVE DIED!" Mark yelled.

"HE WAS JUST TRYING TO HELP YOU!" Mimi argued.

"WELL, HE WASN'T HELPING, MIMI! HE DOESN'T REALIZE HOW SERIOUS THIS IS!" Mark shot back.

"YOU GUYS DIDN'T SHOW HIM OR THE OTHERS HOW TO CHANGE A DIAPER OR WHAT TO DO!" Mimi said, trying to calm down.

"He has a son, doesn't he? A four-month-old." Mark pointed out.

"ROGER DOESN'T CHANGE ERIC'S DIAPERS – IT'S ALWAYS ME!" Mimi yelled again.

The conversation continued like that for two hours until Mimi had to hang up – she had work the next day.

"I may have cost us our friends." Mark told Kate that night as the two of them ate pizza and watched Repo! The Generic Opera on TV.

"Way to go." Kate answered sarcastically, helping herself to another slice of pizza.

There was a moment of silence before either of them talked again.

"None of our friends are probably gonna talk to us again." Mark spoke up.

"How do you figure that?" Kate asked, taking a large bite of pizza.

"Roger, Maureen and Joanne are banned from the house, which means they'll never talk to us again; Mimi is Roger's wife and she's beyond pissed at us; Angel is Mimi's best friend, so she and Collins will probably never speak to us again." Mark explained. Kate sighed and put her paper plate in the trash before going to the bathroom to brush her teeth and get ready for bed. Mark sighed as he put the rest of the pizza away, turned off Repo and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth before going to bed.

Towards the middle of the night, Mark was startled out of his sleep by a nightmare. Panting heavily, he got out of bed and walked next door to the nursery. All three girls were fast asleep. Mark kissed each of their foreheads before going back to the master bedroom.

Two weeks later, Kate headed back to work, leaving Mark in charge of watching the girls and caring for the dogs. He ended up calling Sondra, the neighbor that lived on the left side of them, to come over and help out with the babies.

Fifteen minutes later, Sondra came over to help out for a while.

"I really do appreciate this." Mark told the other woman as he made a quick lunch – peanut butter and jelly sandwiches – for them to eat.

"It's not really a big deal, Mark. The boys are with their father for the weekend." Sondra told him, helping get lunch together. Sondra and her husband of thirty years had divorced over the summer and shared custody of their fifteen-year-old twin boys – Lucas and Alex – every other Tuesday and Saturday. They also alternated holidays and birthdays.

Lunch was awkward, so conversation was avoided. Mark quickly ate his sandwich and went to check on the girls while Sondra did dishes and put the food away.

Around eight o'clock that night, Kate came home as Mark and Sondra were feeding the girls their bottles.

"How were they today?" Kate asked, going over to help feed the babies.

"They were fine." Mark answered, handing Isabella to Kate. Kate smiled at her youngest daughter as she fed the baby her bottle.

After the babies were done with their bottles, Mark, Sondra and Kate put Savannah, Amber and Isabella to bed. Once that was done, Sondra headed to her house.

"Honey, I have an idea, why don't we hire Sondra to care for the babies." Mark suggested as he and Kate got ready for bed.

"That's not a bad idea – she's alone in that big house, unless the boys visit." Kate agreed, putting on her reading glasses and picked up her book.

"I got a call from Roger today." Mark told Kate, climbing in next to her.

"Really? What's going on?" Kate inquired.

"He says he's sorry about what he did and he wants to have a talk with us tomorrow after the girls go down for a nap." Mark said, taking off his glasses and turned off his lamp on the bedside table.

"Is it going to be here or there?" Kate asked, also turning off her lamp and took off her glasses.

"Here." Mark answered, kissing Kate's neck.

"What time tomorrow?" Kate asked.

"After the girls go down for their afternoon nap, so around noon." Mark answered.

"I hope it's nothing serious." Kate said, taking her hair out of its ponytail. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders like a black waterfall.

"He just said he needed to talk – that's all." Mark told her, kissing her cheek.

The next afternoon, Mark, Kate, Mimi, Roger, Joanne and Maureen gathered in the Cohen's living room. Angel and Collins had offered to babysit, so they wouldn't be attending the meeting.

Roger took a deep breath, feeling tears in his eyes. Mimi squeezed Roger's hand for support.

"I went to the doctor's yesterday after I left here." Roger started. "It turns out that my HIV has progressed to AIDS – my T-Cells are very low, so the doctor is concerned."

Mark felt tears in his eyes – Roger was his best friend and had been since they were in high school. He couldn't afford to lose him now. He looked around the room to see what his friends were thinking.

Kate was stunned – all the time she had been married to Mark, Roger was like a brother to her – she really didn't want to see him go. She and Mark were planning on asking Maureen and Joanne, plus Roger and Mimi to be godparents to the girls.

Maureen couldn't believe her ears – she didn't want Roger to die. Sure, she annoyed him from time to time, but it was all playful fun.

Joanne had tears streaming down her cheeks – ever since Roger had come out of his shell (thanks to a certain Angel), he had become more involved in his friends' lives.

Mimi was hysterical – she was losing her husband, her best friend, the father to their only son. He was the best husband and father she and Eric had ever known.

All of them stood up and joined hands.

"_There's only us, there's only this  
Forget regret or life is yours to miss.  
No other road, no other way  
No day but today_." All six of them sang, squeezing the others hands.

TWLTWLTWLTWLTWLTWLTWLTWL

Mark felt tears in his eyes as he laid a white rose on Roger's grave. The rocker had died three weeks ago, due to AIDS. The others – Mimi, Mark, Kate, Joanne, Maureen, Collins and Angel fought back tears as a sweet melody of One Song Glory was played on a flute.

_That night, Mimi remembered her last conversation with Roger. They were in the hospital, singing their song I Didn't Know I'd Love You So Much from their favorite movie, Repo! The Genetic Opera, with the words changed, of course._

"_Rog, be still,  
There's nothing more to say,  
It can wait." Mimi sang softly in Roger's ear._

"_Meems, April's calling me." Roger whispered._

"_Sometimes I wanted to cry  
When the people on TV were not quite the way we were  
Somehow I guess I just knew.  
But I didn't know I'd love you so much  
I didn't know I'd love you so much  
I didn't know I'd love you so much  
But I do." Mimi sang. She could feel the tears in her eyes._

"_Sometimes I'd stay up all night  
Wishing to God that I was the one who died.  
Sometimes it's not enough time.  
But I didn't know I'd love you so much  
I didn't know I'd love you so much  
I didn't know I'd love you so much  
But I do." Roger crooned, his eyes slightly closing._

"_Didn't know I'd love you so much." Mimi sang._

"_Didn't know I'd love you so much." Roger sang._

"_Didn't know I'd love you so much  
But I do." The two of them sang, Mimi making herself comfortable in Roger's arms._

"_Meems, go." Roger told her when a room nurse came in, a threatening look on her face._

"_Rog, I will not leave you here_

_You will live." Mimi told her husband, ignoring the nurse's death-grip on her arm._

"_But you've already saved me, Meems.  
Go and change the world for me." Roger told her, nodding to the nurse to leave them alone. With a threatening glare at Mimi, the nurse left._

"_We will always have each other  
In our time of need." The two lovers crooned._

"_Roger, you're the world to me." Mimi sang, tears in her eyes._

"_Mimi, you're the world to me." Roger sang before closing his eyes and took his last breath of air._

The next day, Mark was at work, leaving Kate and the full-time nanny they hired, Amanda, to care for the triplets.

"I can't believe he's gone." Kate sobbed that night. Mark only nodded and kissed her forehead – he was in total shock, too.

"Shh, baby, I know." Mark soothed, rubbing a hand up and down Kate's back.

"T-The girls w-w-will n-n-never k-k-know w-w-w-what a g-g-great m-m-man R-Roger w-w-w-was." Kate said between sobs.

"Of course they will – I have film reels of Roger." Mark told her, kissing her forehead.

Over at Maureen and Joanne's, both women couldn't stop crying – they had considered Roger to be like a brother to both of them.

"If we have a son, we should name him after Roger." Maureen said, looking at her swollen belly. Joanne nodded, her chocolate-brown eyes eyeing Maureen's stomach. The two of them had discovered that they were pregnant 8 months ago after a fellow worker raped Maureen. The worker had been fired, and after discovering she was pregnant, Maureen was certain that Joanne would be angry and leave her. She did just the opposite – she was supportive and loving to her lover.

Meanwhile at Collins and Angel's, the two of them were having a hard time going to bed. They were still shocked that Roger was gone and he wasn't coming back.

"I miss him so much." Angel said sadly. Collins put a comforting arm around her shoulders and drew her close.

"I know – I miss him, too." Collins said, brushing Angel's hair out of her eyes and ran a hand down her cheek.

"Poor Mimi-chica. She must be having an awful time."

"We'll go visit her and Eric tomorrow." Collins promised, getting comfortable in bed. Angel let out a sigh and climbed in next to him.


	3. Epilogue

CHAPTER THREE  
(chapter title - Epilogue)

In the spring, Maureen and Joanne, along with Kate and Mark, welcomed boys – Roger Ethan Johnson-Jefferson and Aaden Adam Cohen. Both couples couldn't be happier.

Mimi ended up falling in love again – this time with Derek VonMcDonald – a former fireman who lost his wife in a fire. He had a daughter, Samantha, who was two-years-old.

Collins and Angel welcomed a son – Michael Cooper Schunard – into the world on Roger's birthday – October 21st.

As for Roger, he's up in heaven with his family and April, knowing that the others would see him soon.


End file.
